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The collapse happened about half an hour after Jack Olsen left the Planet. Which was about half an hour longer than Perry White thought it would take. He was honestly surprised that Jimmy had held up that well. Great Ghost of Elvis, the kid had been through a wringer these past few days. Perry wasn’t sure that he could have held up under it, and he had a bit more experience with people failing him then Jimmy had. Though given what he’d seen of the boy’s father these past few days, maybe Jimmy had more experience with that then Perry would have thought.
Still, getting your Dad back only to have him abandon you again was more than any person should have to bear. He would have felt that way even if the person facing it wasn’t Jimmy. The fact that it was… well Perry was well and truly pissed. Not that Perry could do anything about it. Much as he wanted to track down Jack Olsen and drag him back to the planet by the short and curlies he knew that he couldn’t. And even if he could it wouldn’t make the pain in Jimmy’s eyes go away.
Nothing Perry did could make the pain in Jimmy’s eyes go away. Much as he might want to help, he just didn’t know how. He was great at seeing the details of a story, understanding why people reacted the way they did, and how all of it fit together to form one cohesive narrative. But actually inserting himself into the story? Yeah. Perry’d have better luck putting on a cape and trying to fly like Superman.
Luckily, there was someone right there in his newsroom who was really good at the whole people thing. “Kent, take care of Olsen, will you?”
Kent did not disappoint, “Of course Chief.” He paused, “But you know that I’m not the one he needs to talk to.”
Perry shrugged. “I know. But it’s not like either of us has the power to go and drag Jack Olsen back here.”
Perry very pointedly ignored the look that flashed across Clark’s face that suggested that he could in fact go find Jack Olsen and drag him back here. Perry chose to ignore it. If Kent wanted to continue to pretend that he was in no way shape or form Superman, well Perry was going to let him. Outing Kent would be far more trouble than it was worth. While it might make a great story in the moment, all it would really accomplish was costing him one of his best reporters. Not to mention the mess it would cause with Lane. Nothing was worth that headache.
Fortunately it was not an issue Perry would have to deal with today, as Kent quickly regained control of himself. “No problem Chief. I’ll talk to Jimmy. See if there’s anything that I can do for him.”
Perry nodded. “Use my office.” At least it was reasonably private. There would still be gossip, but less than what there would be if it all happened in the middle of the bullpen. And even that would end once Perry got ahold of the perpetrators. And he would get a hold of them. Even if he had to get Kent and Lane to tell him who they were.
Keeping one eye on the rest of the room, especially that gossiping twit Cat Grant, Perry watched as Clark gently coaxed Jimmy out of the chair he was huddled in and led him into Perry’s office. He watched as Kent shut the door and drew the blinds. Then he turned back to the rest of the room who were watching with open curiosity. “Well what are you all staring at? Get back to work! Great host of Elvis, we still have a paper to get out.”
Perry was gratified to hear a few hastily muttered “Yes Chiefs” come from around the room before everyone returned to what they were working on.
Not having anything else to do, and not wanting to disturb Kent and Jimmy, Perry began to pace the room in long slow circuits. It was one of those circuits that took him past the door to his own office. To his surprise he could hear soft conversation coming from inside.
“I’m okay Clark. Really I am. You can tell Mr. White that I’m fine.” Jimmy’s voice didn’t sound fine to Perry, but it did at least sound better than it had before.
“It’s okay to be upset, Jimmy. What your Dad did… Well it’s not okay.”
“That’s just it, Clark. Jack’s not my dad. Not really. Sure he contributed half my DNA, but that’s really it. Dads are the ones who are their for your games, and performances, and graduations. Who teach you how to drive and send you off on your first date. They’re the ones who guide you through all the ups and downs of life. They’re the ones who are… there.” He paused. “Jack has never been that for me.”
There was silence for a moment then Kent said, “I think I get what you mean. My dad was always there. No matter what the reason, if I needed him, he came. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t his blood.”
“Yeah. That’s what I mean.”
There was silence then Kent continued speaking, “You know if this whole mess has shown anything, maybe it’s that you really do have a dad. Maybe it’s not Jack, but you still have one.”
“You mean?”
“He’s awful worried about you Jimmy.”
“”He is?”
“Oh yeah. Has been throughout this whole mess. And you can’t miss the way he’s always looking out for you. If that doesn’t make him your dad, I don’t know what does.”
“I guess, maybe you’re right. Jimmy sounded oddly pleased at the thought. “But I doubt that he feels the same way.”
Perry was left reeling. Were they talking about him? That wasn’t possible. And yet, he did think of Olsen as a son. Always had, much as he tried to hide it. Jimmy, Kent, Lane, they were his family. If they felt the same way, well, it was something to think about.
Later. For now there was a newspaper to get out. Brusquely, he knocked on the office door. “You two done in there?”
“Yes Chief!” He could practically hear Jimmy hopping to his feet, even as he opened the door.
“Good. Kent, get back with Lane and see if the two of you can salvage an article out of this mess. Olsen, you’re with me. Let’s lay out what we have and see if we can put something that at least vaguely resembles a paper together.”
“Yes Chief.” Kent gave Perry a far too knowing smile as he left. Of course the bastard knew that Perry had been listening. One of these days, Perry was going to take those secrets of his and shove them in his face. See how he liked that. But not today. Today his son was waiting. His son who had already been abandoned by one father. Perry swore he would not be the second.